Keep an open mind

T here may be light at the end of the tunnel for Cañon City's struggling economy.

A tunnel that has seemed bleak with the down-turned economy and the closure of some of our businesses, tourist attractions and even prisons -- our community's largest employer.

The light is a little brighter after the Cañon City Council met Thursday for its annual planning retreat with City Administrator Doug Dotson and other city staff and department heads. The council brainstormed several ideas that could be implemented to help grow our economy. Ideas that won't happen overnight.

Ideas that need the backing and support of the community.

This current council is mulling a number of potential ventures, such as possibly a first-class resort/spa at the Royal Gorge, maintaining and redeveloping the Abbey property and promoting our community's under-appreciated resources -- the river, the hiking and bicycling trails and our mountain parks.

While we are not certain which direction council members eventually will move toward, it is important that we as a community stand beside them and offer support.

A well-thought out and researched plan deserves at least an open mind from the community. It's our responsibility as citizens to be informed and stay current on local projects, and to ask questions and voice concerns throughout the process -- not at the tail end.

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Voters and community members shouldn't base their opinions strictly on their neighbors' perspectives or even the newspaper's opinion -- they should consider what is in the best interest of the community, especially in the long run.

In past years, voters have turned down the majority of proposed tax increases -- dollars that would have gone toward fixing and maintaining our roads (council said the No. 1 complaint they hear is condition of local roads), funding our law enforcement and repairing, renovating and maintaining our public library. There needs to be a balance between citizens not willing to budge on a slight tax increase that will benefit the community and the reality that tax dollars are what keep our schools and libraries open and ensure an officer responds to our emergency calls 24 hours a day. While we are not advocating necessarily for an increase in local taxes, we are asking that the community have an open mind to some of the more creative ideas that council may present in the upcoming months.

Some positive and exciting things are likely to take place in Cañon City in the upcoming months and years. We are certain that our council has our community's best interest at heart. They work virtually for free making hard decisions, researching topics and sometimes fielding unpleasant phone calls and emails. They do it because they care, and they want to see our community prosper.

Let us each see what our part is in making some mighty things happen on our little town.